MADRID: Gareth Bale has been left out of the Real Madrid team for Wednesday's Champions League last 16, first leg against Paris Saint-Germain at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Coach Zinedine Zidane has opted to replace the Welshman with Isco in his starting XI, while Nacho starts as expected at right-back in place of the suspended Dani Carvajal.

Visiting coach Unai Emery has made a big selection call of his own, leaving out skipper Thiago Silva to go with 22-year-old Presnel Kimpembe alongside Marquinhos in the centre of his defence.

In addition, Emery gave the nod to young Argentine Giovani Lo Celso in the midfield holding role instead of ex-Real midfielder Lassana Diarra, who had been tipped to play with Thiago Motta left out of the squad altogether.

Spaniard Yuri Berchiche, who moved to PSG from Real Sociedad in the last close season, gets the nod at left-back ahead of Layvin Kurzawa, who missed the weekend win at Toulouse with a thigh problem.

PSG are looking to banish the memory of their painful 6-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona that eliminated them at the same stage of the competition last season, while Real are the two-time defending champions.

Starting line-ups for the Champions League last 16, first leg between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday (kick-off 1945 GMT):

Comments

Disclaimer : We respect your thoughts and views! But we need to be judicious while moderating your comments. All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.com editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines.

The views expressed in comments published on newindianexpress.com are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of newindianexpress.com or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The New Indian Express Group, or any entity of, or affiliated with, The New Indian Express Group. newindianexpress.com reserves the right to take any or all comments down at any time.